ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Senior cross country Emma Bussard is this week's winner of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Athlete of the Week at UNC Asheville.

Each week the school selects a BCBSNC Athlete of the Week upon their performance from the previous week's action. This marks the third time Bussard has been honored this year.

Emma earned Big South All-Conference honors on Saturday with a solid third-place finish at the Big South Conference championships at Winthrop. She completed the 5K course with a time of 17:47. Her time tied a school record and was a personal best. Bussard was also named to the Big South All-Academic team. She and her teammates finished in fifth place at the meet, a big improvement from last year's ninth-place finish.